Mumbai: Bears ruled roost for the third week in row, this time on rising geopolitical concerns on fear of escalating trade war pulled down the key indices, as benchmark Sensex fell another 131.14 points to close at 33,176.00.
The Broader Nifty slid below the key 10,200-level to finish at 10,195.15, slipping 31.70 points.
Bulls remained confused as the potential global trade-war vented-out by Trump administration slowly but steadily came into intentness.
The markets ample gains during start of the week on illusion of receding trade war fears and strength of the US economy witnessed a trend reversal despite the country's positive macro-datas of CPI and WPI inflation, robust Industrial production (IIP) as well as World Bank prediction of India's growth of 7.3 per cent in FY19.
The market traded largely mute rest of the week sessions confined by subdued global peers due to escalating geopolitics worries after US levied tax on steel and aluminium imports and planned to impose sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports, while the US challenging India's export subsidy schemes at the WTO fanned investor uncertainty.
On the domestic front, RBI directives to banks banning issuance of letters of undertaking (LoU) led intense selling pressure in Banking and financials stocks before its recovery, while developments in political front TDPs move to quit ruling NDA alliance and moving of non-confidence motion accelerated market volatility.
The Sensex started the week with a smart rise of 33,468.16 and hovered between 34,077.32 and 33,119.92, it closed the week at 33,176.00, showing a fall of 131.14 or 0.39 per cent.
(The Sensex lost 835.01 points or 2.45 per cent in previous two week session).
The Nifty also resumed the week higher at 10,301.60 and traded between 10,478.60 and 10,180.25 before ending the week at 10,195.15, showing a loss of 31.70 points, or 0.31 per cent.
The weeks choppy momentum witnessed losses in IT, Metal, Capital Goods, Oil and Gas, Teck, Auto, Realty sectors. While, gains seen in Consumer Durable, IPOs, Banks, HealthCare, FMCG, PSUs and Power counters.
The broader midcap and smallcap company shares outperformed the key indices.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 5,955.29 crore during the week, as per Sebi's record including the provisional figure of March 16, 2018.
However, side-counters have shown impressive gains during the week with the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advancing 1.45 per cent and the BSE Small-Cap index gaining 1.56 per cent.
Among sectoral and industry indices, IT dipped by 0.69 per cent followed by metal 0.56 per cent, capital goods 0.52 per cent, oil and gas 0.37 per cent, teck 0.23 per cent, auto 0.19 per cent and realty 0.07 per cent, while consumer durables rose by 2.05 per cent, IPO 1.50 per cent, bankex 0.96 per cent, healthcare 0.42 per cent, FMCG 0.19 per cent and power 0.13 per cent.
Among the 31-share Sensex pack, 17 stocks fell and remaining 14 stocks rose during the week. Among stocks, Coal India was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack last week.
The stock slumped 8.53 per cent. It was followed by TCS 6.89 per cent, Adani Ports 2.36 per cent, Kotak Bank 2.17 per cent, L&T 1.75 per cent, Tata Motors DVR 1.35 per cent, Power Grid 1.33 per cent, Reliance 1.27 per cent,ONGC 1.25 per cent and HDFC 1.25 per cent. However, Telecom major Bharti Airtel surged 4.04 per cent.
The company's board of directors in its meeting held on 12 March 2018, approved issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of upto Rs 10000 crore on a private placement basis and issuance of foreign currency bonds upto a limit of $1 billion or equivalent in one or more tranches.
Wipro advanced 3.70 per cent. Wipro on, 10 March 2018 said that the investment in Denim Group has been completed on 9 March 2018. On 1 March 2018, Wipro had signed a definitive agreement to acquire a minority stake in Denim Group, a US based leading application security solution provider.
It was followed by Axis Bank 3.58 per cent, Yes Bank 2.82 per cent, ICICI Bank 1.84 per cent, M&M 1.73 per cent and Indus Ind Bank 1.59 per cent.
The total turnover during the week on BSE rose to Rs 20,943.28 crs as against last weekend's level of Rs 18,015.55 crores and NSE moved up to 1,69,652.87 crores compared to Rs 1,45,645.93 crores previously.
